Man bitten in Gulf; officials unsure whether it was shark

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- A 29-year-old Georgia man suffered "very minor" injuries when he was bitten while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico this afternoon.

The man, whose name was not released, told lifeguards he swam about 100 feet off shore to get a closer glimpse of a porpoise or dolphin, according to Gulf Shores city spokesman Grant Brown.

The man was in chest-high water in front of the Sunchase condos, near the 1100 block of West Beach Boulevard, at about 3 p.m. when he was bitten and rushed back to shore to have a lifeguard check out the injury, Brown said. It was unclear whether the man was bitten by a shark.

"We don't know what bit him," Brown said.

The man drove himself to an urgent care center in Gulf Shores and was later treated and released.

While Brown described surf conditions as "beautiful," he urged swimmers to use caution when swimming in the Gulf.